As the Tide Turns
All they wanted to do was go home. Why wouldn't they let them go home?
When Rodney heard the tell tale click of a P90 and then Lurch's voice, he sincerely considered crying.
When he saw that P90 aimed at a deathly silent and unmoving Sheppard, he wanted to throw up.
When he heard the clicks of multiple P90's and a South Carolina lilt, he laughed hysterically.
"Hey y'all and welcome to the Alpha Site. Now you will put your weapon down and remove your boot from our Commanding Officer or if'n you twitch, Sgt. Smith over there is going to take your head clean off." Master Sergeant Releford Lashley ordered Bama holding his own P90 up and ready. "Sgt. Smith, do you have him?"
"Yes, I have him."
McKay flipped over and looked Bama in the eye. "I'd do what he says."
McKay could already see in Bama's face his loyalty to Papa Jae. It did not matter what kind of man Jae was or is. Bama would do anything asked of him by that man. He was going to carry out his order and kill Sheppard or die trying.
"Price paid." He moved his trigger finger and two shots rang out.
McKay balled up while yelling and immediately heard a loud thump from a body hitting the platform. He rolled over to look at Sheppard. His shirt was turning red from the reopening of the injury but no other wound was visible. He ignored Bama's huge corpse as the team came up and removed the P90 from him.
"He needs medical attention," said Rodney weakly. He stood up. "Where'd the other bullet go?'
"His shot went wild," said Lashley as he walked up to him. "Dr. McKay, I think you'd better sit down. You're bleeding."
"No, it's probably the colonel's."
"No sir, it's runnin' down your leg."
Rodney looked at his left leg and drew his finger through the wet substance. He held it in front of his face. "Hunh, whaddya know?"
Lashley caught him before he hit the floor.
"The hip Carson. I was shot in the hip."
"Butt cheek, Rodney." Beckett corrected. "If you were hit in the hip you would have an easier time sitting and you wouldn't have stitches in your posterior."
Bullshit, thought Rodney. He had enough of it the past few days to see it and recognize it. This kind he would enjoy though. The shot started at the hip and exited through his butt cheek as Carson so delicately put it. So, he was shot in the hip.
Rodney looked at the adjoining bed. Sheppard's eyes opened and just as quickly closed.
"He's doing it again," scowled Rodney.
"What? The mommy check?"
He rolled his eyes. "If that is what you insist on calling it, then yes. Where did you come up with this gem of a medical term?"
"Actually, it came from my rotation in a pediatric ward during my residency," Carson explained. "One of the parent's staying in her child's room coined it. Her son would wake up briefly to make sure she was still there and go back to sleep. A mommy check."
"OK, I hope I don't have to explain the wrongness of that term applied here," said Rodney trying to ignore the rightness of it. "It's just that it reminds me of when they were…well…you know."
"Aye, I know. And I think you're wrong there Rodney. You took care of him and he's just making sure you haven't left. Don't worry; he probably won't remember doing it." Carson patted him on the shoulder and walked over to Sheppard.
McKay began to drift.
He had been right. Once again, all of Carson's hard work of putting Sheppard back together was undone. The moment they were wheeled through the Gate, the doctor let out his string of invectives in English and Gaelic. There were so many bloody hells; McKay thought it was actually getting hot. He dodged any of those choice phrases being aimed at him by getting shot in the bu…hip and by having a face that looked like it had gone a few rounds with Joe Lewis.
Ronon, Teyla and Weir were there escorting them to the infirmary. It was a hazy, lazy dream and a good one at that. Safety and familiarity.
It looked like a forest of IV's between his and Sheppard's beds. They were pumped full of so many drugs; it was a contest. The contest would be more fun if Sheppard would wake up. Rodney guessed he deserved a little R and R though.
Both had undergone minor surgeries. His for the bullet wound from a ricochet. That was the most likely explanation anyway. Sheppard from the two additions the chair had given him and the one that had been ripped out. They had been scanned from head to toe and back again to check for anything else that could possibly be wrong. Just the sheer fact the man had nothing left to give was a good enough excuse to not wake up since their return.
Carson was speaking again but not to him. "…antibiotics, blood products and oxygen for both. We have the Colonel on a feeding tube as well. His three suture sights are healing nicely as are his back and neck. No permanent damage to his brain is apparent."
"Have we gotten the full story yet?"
"Give Rodney another day and he should be able to handle a debriefing. The Colonel is a different matter. From what I can tell, his fever is starting to abate but he'll be out of it for another day maybe two." Carson paused. "Dr. Weir, I don't know exactly what they did but he had a few exotic compounds in his system and an adrenaline derivative. We're being careful to watch for potential drug interaction hazards. He also lost a massive amount of his blood volume at some point. He's been…well it amazes me what we'll do to each other."
"I know Carson. We couldn't find a single crumb to lead us to them. Low and behold they show up at the Alpha Site a complete and total mess. And they brought a playmate. I feel like we failed them. At least they're home." Their voices started to fade. "Ronon and Teyla are outside. They want to sit with their team."
"That's fine. It may even help."
McKay's drifting continued until worried exhalations made him focus on the face across from him. With eyes wide, Sheppard touched the nasal cannula and feeding tube. His eyes seemed to be trying to hold on to Rodney and pleading for help.
"McKay, I can't go back in that chair."
Stunned, Rodney lay on his side and stared at him. Movement on the other side of Sheppard's bed refocused his attention. A nurse softly approached- most likely alerted by his voice.
"Col. Sheppard?" She touched him lightly to get his attention.
The eyes changed. Rodney was not sure what emotion they held now but he was too slow to warn the nurse. Lucky for her, Sheppard was about as strong as wet tissue paper as he took a swipe at her. When his mouth opened, Rodney knew what emotions were present in those eyes.
The sound that came out of Sheppard's mouth could be likened to the sound one makes when a bucket of cold water is dumped on one's head. Then mix it with all the fear, anger, terror, hatred, anxiety, pain, and anguish they had experienced over the last few days and maybe it could be recreated. His very carefully placed façade was opened like a locket to reveal the secret inside. This time the treasure was his raw emotional core. Everything he had withheld during their stay at the Hotel California spewed forth in that yell.
"Leave…me…alone!" It was an order and a frantic one at that. Sheppard tried to fight the enemy but it was more for self-protection. "McKay! Not...going...back!"
A wall of brown leather obstructed Rodney's view of the bed. The wall gave a low rumble to the panicked occupant, "Sheppard. Sheppard!"
Beckett was suddenly there. "Col. Sheppard wake up! Colonel, it's time to wake up!"
There must have been two buckets because McKay found himself shivering. A light touch to his shoulder made him look behind him. Teyla stood on the other side and gave a compassionate nod of the head.
He was going to kill Sheppard. For the umpteenth time he wanted to cry for the…Rodney realized he wanted to cry for the best friend he had ever had. The only true friend he ever had. Even with that epiphany, how dare he make him want to cry.
Now McKay was pissed.
"When!…McKay!"
"Col. Sheppard, you're home." Carson soothed.
McKay thought enough with the mollycoddling and yelled as loud as he could, "Shut up Sheppard!"
"Hell no!"
All commotion stopped. And like closing the locket, Sheppard's veneer snapped into place when he woke up. There was a second or two pause before he heard Sheppard's voice.
"Uh hey Carson, Ronon. Are we going steady or do you just like to hold hands?"
Ronon snorted and released Sheppard's wrists.
Carson looked over at Rodney and smiled. "You were having a wee, little bit of a nightmare there, Colonel."
"Definitely." Sheppard answered on the exhale. His eyes were already shutting. "Is Bobby in the shower?"
Relieved, McKay laughed, "If I'm Miss Ellie, I'm so coming over there and kicking your ass. Or sending Teyla over there to do it by proxy."
Sheppard smiled and fell immediately back asleep.
"Rodney, I want to know what happened," Carson said in a very low voice sliding up next to his bed.
"No Carson, you don't want to know. You need to know. Think of a chair designed by the Wraith to study the Ancients. Now think of complete and utter imbeciles using the hunt and peck method to figure out how to use it. Now think of an iron maiden made into a cradle skewering him in the back and at the base of his skull. He was placed in that thing for minutes up to hours."
Oh, he was so going to kill Sheppard because his eyes were stinging.
"Now think of someone who is used to being the hero…one who is always has some form of control and has none. They humiliated him, embarrassed him, and made him nothing more than a means to an end. The man has fortitude."
"He never once complained Carson. Oh wait, I stand corrected; the catheters in his gut and shoulder pinched." Rodney looked at Ronon and Teyla. Ronon stood ram-rod straight staring at nothing in front of him. Teyla's jaw worked, her eyes solidly on Sheppard's bed. Her hand held McKay's tightly.
He realized those looks were not too far away from Bama's. He wondered if Sheppard even knew he had that kind of power. And if he did, would he use it?
"The planet's name is Ixion. Have Radek look for it in the database. The man who did this was named Jae Berje. The others on that planet don't deserve our hate or anger. But they don't deserve our pity either. I'd like to talk to Elizabeth to give a verbal report when…when I can."
Rodney looked at Carson and continued. "They would inject some sort of liquid nourishment, and I use that term loosely, into the stomach tube. He was drugged several times. He had an allergic reaction to something they gave him orally. He's had little water. He pissed off Orson and he removed the shoulder port by ripping it out of him. I think that covers most of it. I might have skipped a few details but…oh I'm sorry, they fried his speech center at one point so he couldn't talk."
"What were you doing?" Ronon asked. It almost sounded accusatory but Rodney somehow understood. Ronon had been neutralized without so much as a fight.
"I was pretending to modify a shield generator while planning our escape. Took care of him on a couple of occasions. And entertained guests. Oh, if I didn't; they would stick him back in that chair or physically remind me with a love tap."
Carson's jaw also ground audibly. By the look in his eye, his anger was for the both of them. "Do you have any idea what kind of drugs they used on him?"
"No. I don't." He regretted that but not much he could have done.
"Rodney, I think that's enough. You get some rest. Teyla, Ronon you can stay but quietly please."
They acknowledged him and took seats near Sheppard's and McKay's beds.
"Hey, what happened to you guys?" Rodney asked. "Last I saw you were out cold."
"Dr. Weir sent a team through within minutes. We regained consciousness about 20 minutes later." Teyla replied.
"All we could tell them was a Wraith probe of some sort shot us," said Ronon. "Nothing else, the Mau knew nothing about them and we could not find any sign of them or you. Obviously, they left the planet."
"Yeah." The drifting was back and Rodney decided to follow the flow. "Spaceballs." He would have to remember that; Sheppard would appreciate it.
"We are glad you both are back," whispered Teyla seeing the conversation was over.
"Believe me when I say; it's good to be back."
A/N: Now our little piggies are home. One more to go.